The Story of Valerie
by Valerie Grantaine
Summary: Haruhi spent her time in the States with a Japanese-American family with a daughter named Valerie. Valerie is coming back to Ouran with Haruhi for the year, and is about to learn something that will turn her life upside down as she goes through a whirlwind of crushes, suitors, and family complications.
1. Valerie Grant(aine)

**A/N:** So this is my first ever Ouran fanfic! Not to mention my first fanfic with an OC as the main character. I'll try to not put A/N's at the start of every chapter, as I know how annoying that can be. Also, this story line will follow the manga more so than the anime, with the exception of Haruhi staying with a family in the states rather than everyone going to the states. Anyway, here's the first chapter, though it's more of a prelude than anything. Enjoy! :)

* * *

"Tamaki" a dark figure facing the large bay window said. "Tomorrow you leave for France. You will be there for three to six months depending on how everything goes here."

The blond that was sitting in front of his father's large oak desk stood with outrage. "Tomorrow!? But school starts in a week and Haruhi is finally coming home in two days! I can't go to France _now_!" desperation rang clearly in his voice as he pleaded to the older man.

The man turned slowly towards the blond, sighing sadly. "Tamaki, I know you're not pleased with this but please, your mother and I need you to go to France now. A very complicated situation has arisen and it's crucial that you be in France while it unfolds." He walked towards his large leather chair and sat down with grace.

Tamaki slammed his fist on his father's desk. "Tell me why it's so important for me to leave everything I love to go to France father. It's my last year of high school and it's been a year since I've seen Haruhi." Tears were starting to form but the older man knew they were purely 'crocodile'; his son was so theatrical sometimes.

Yuzuru Suoh raised an eyebrow at his son. "I happen to know for a fact that you and the rest of the Host Club were at Boston seeing her last week. In fact you've flown to America at least fifty times in the past year to see her, you can handle a few months without her." He shuffled a pile of papers on his desk absent mindedly waiting for his son to come up with another tactic.

"B-but…. Dad! Ranka-sama was nice enough to invite me to Haruhi's welcome home party this weekend! Surely you must know the significance of this! I _must _stay in Japan." He gave his father the best puppy dog eyes he could possibly muster hoping the old man would crack.

A feminine giggle came from the doorway as both males turned to the sound. "Oh dear, why don't you just explain to Tamaki why it's so important that he goes to France now? I'm sure he'd be more willing once he learns of the circumstances." The woman walked fluidly from the door to stand behind Yuzuru, her long blonde hair flowing elegantly down her back.

"Maman?" Tamaki asked his French accent thick. "What's going on?" he looked back and forth from each parent, panic emanating from his body.

His mother smiled kindly at him. "Oh dear Tamaki, please don't worry so much! This is a very exciting, happy thing were getting sorted out. However your father and I decided it would be much less intimidating and complicated if we could sort it out without you here for right now. We don't want to overwhelm the poor girl so soon." She explained calmly.

A spark that could only be explained as a 'Host' look crossed through Tamaki's eyes. "Une fille?" he asked a smile forming on his lips. "But wait, why would a girl concern me when I already have Haruhi?" his smile quickly dropped and his brows furrowed in confusion. "I'm not expected to have a mistress and a wife am I?"

Yuzuru burst out laughing, his wife smiling widely at her naïve son. "No, of course not dear. This girl, she is so much more special than that. Elle est votre sœur." She said the last part very hesitantly, gauging her son's reaction very carefully. She and her husband had known that telling Tamaki this would be very risky, but neither could go without knowing their daughter anymore. The past year had been absolutely insane with Yuzuru's mother losing ownership of the Souh business. Then Anne-Sophie moving back to Japan and marrying Yuzuru two months later. They and Tamaki now took residency in the main Souh mansion while Shizue decided to move to one of the country homes to retire peacefully with her Japanese soap operas.

But as the two parents watched their beloved son they became worried as he showed no reaction. His face was a complete blank almost as if he never heard the words. Finally he blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. "I don't have a sister." He said in a monotone voice, his face still showing no emotion.

Anne-Sophie sighed sadly. "Yes you do, her name is Valerie." Tamaki's eyes finally locked with hers and she could see the massive confusion swirling within them.

"But I only know one Valerie and she lives at the home Haruhi's been staying at in America." He said trying to keep his voice monotone but both parents could hear the pain and confusion building.

Yuzuru cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly in his chair and looked up at his wife. She gave him a stern look and patted his shoulder, the two silently communicating in a fashion that normally annoyed Tamaki. But now he was too emotional to even notice the small exchange. "Is anyone going to explain this to me?"

His father took a deep breath. "Please Tamaki; try to stay silent as I explain. I'm not proud of this story, but you must understand that I had little choice in the matter." Tamaki gave a curt nod. "After you were born, I snuck off to France very carefully to see your mother and you. That was when I gave you your first teddy bear in fact." He smiled briefly at the memory.

"Your mother and I took advantage of me being able to sneak away and uh." He coughed. "We said a proper goodbye. Nine months later, Valerie arrived. Your grandmother found out very quickly as she was having Anne-Sophie monitored closely; and she became enraged. Seeing as you were the current heir to the Souh fortune, she needed you to have a proper mother and a good upbringing. Valerie however was an unpleasant mistake that could easily be taken care of." His eyes darkened.

"On September 26th 1990, Valerie Grantaine was born. Your grandmother insisted that your mother change Valerie's last name to Grant so she could never be tied to this family in any way. After that was complete, she had Valerie shipped to an orphanage in America." He stopped there, allowing the onslaught of information to soak in.

After a few moments Tamaki finally spoke. "So… the past year… I've seen my sister several times, and neither of you bothered to mention that she was related to me?" The accusatory tone in his voice caused his mother to tear up and she walked around the large desk to kneel in front of her son.

"Tamaki, mon fils, please understand. It was not easy for either of us. We can't be one hundred percent sure that the girl arriving here with Haruhi in a couple of days is our Valerie yet though. We need to do tests to make sure. This is why we hadn't mentioned the possibility to you. What if she turned out not to be related to you at all? You would be devastated." Her eyes pierced his, both pairs filling with silent tears.

Tamaki sniffed quietly and looked up to his father. "But why do I have to leave then? She already knows me!" he cried.

Yuzuru sighed heavily. "Son, there are certain things that need to happen before we bring her back into the Souh family. First, we need her DNA to make sure it is for sure our Valerie. Granted she's the only Valerie Grant born on that date, but it's always better to be safe than sorry." Tamaki nodded, waiting for his father to continue.

"Secondly, there's the possibility that her adoptive family will become reluctant to let her be given back to us, of course we will fight until she is rightfully a Souh again, but it could get nasty. We don't want you to be here to witness this, or get thrown into the middle of it." He explained.

Tamaki shook his head violently. "That doesn't make any sense dad! She knows me, wouldn't it be more comfortable for her knowing that I'm her brother and having me there for her?" he demanded, desperation lacing his voice.

His mother patted his knee softly as she looked up at him. "Tamaki dear, the fact that she already knows you might enrage her and make her think you only befriended her because you're her brother. This is a very complicated situation. We need her to get to know us first and accept this before bringing you back into the picture okay?"

Tamaki looked like he was about to object again so she placed a finger over his lips. "Trust us mon fils, we have thought this over and discussed it what feels like a million times. This is the best arrangement. You'll leave for France tomorrow morning and spend a few months at your old private school. After everything has calmed down here you will be brought back to finish your senior year at Ouran." His eyes widened at this information.

"Maman! It's my last year with Host Club! I can't leave now! This is completely insane I tell you! Please can't I just stay and try not to get involved?" he pleaded, getting on his knees next to his mother. Both parents glanced at each other, pity across their faces.

"We're sorry Tamaki; this is the only plan that will work to everyone's advantage." Yuzuru said softly.

Tears spilled freely down Tamaki's stricken face. "You're wrong! I have no advantage in this. I'll end up losing Haruhi, my throne in Host Club, all my adoring fans… and my friends. It's not fair." With that he got up and walked quickly across the office slamming the door behind him.

Anne-Sophie slowly rose to her feet. "At least nothing was broken." Her husband said from behind her as she stared blankly at the door.

She turned to face him, tears sliding silently down her porcelain cheeks. "Only his heart." She said with a sad smile.

"He's a strong boy; he'll understand this eventually and will forgive us."

"I certainly hope so."


	2. Sharing Private Things

Twin brothers stepped out of a large private plane midday at the small Boston airport. "Ugh, Kaoru I really hate constant flying like this." One complained as he stretched out. He was wearing slate grey pants and a white dress shirt with an embroidered H on the collar, his slate grey tie loose around his neck.

His twin hummed in response as he looked around the airport grounds. His outfit was the same as his brothers only black instead of slate grey and his tie seemed to have been tossed off already and there was a K embroidered on the collar of his shirt. "Well we knew it would happen when mom asked for our help with the business this summer. She knows we want to come to America as often as possible, and this job helps us do that. You should just be happy we get to see Haruhi more than Tono does." He grinned as his twin who grinned back.

"It is nice seeing him get pissed every time we get to come out here and he can't join. But I'll be glad when school starts and we can stop flying back and forth every week." He sighed.

"Plus then you'll get to see Haruhi every day, where as Tono will be in France." Kaoru said offhandedly. He knew his twin hadn't found out this bit of information yet, but considering Haruhi would probably know and be upset about it already he might as well tell him. It had shocked him when Tamaki had called him last night and informed him that he was to leave to France after that phone call and wouldn't be back for a few months. He didn't even know if he'd be able to stay in contact with everyone or not.

As he expected, Hikaru froze in place for a minute before he seemed to melt back into reality. "Tamaki won't be in Japan at all for a few months?" he asked almost hopefully, staring off into space.

"He called yesterday while you were in a meeting with mom before we left. He wouldn't explain why he was going to France other than it was necessary and not to follow him. I was promised to keep an eye on Haruhi and keep any suitors from molesting her." Kaoru chuckled quietly. "I think he asked the wrong person to do the last part."

Hikaru grinned as he turned back to his brother. "Does that mean you won't stop me from taking advantage of Tono's leave?"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at his twin. "Why would I waste time with something so impossible?"

"Are you planning on confessing to Valerie any time soon?" Hikaru shot back at his brother.

The younger twin chuckled evilly. "I have a plan for that already." He pulled a small journal out of seemingly nowhere. Hikaru knew Kaoru made his pockets deeper so that he could keep his journal with him though. It was a silly habit that the younger twin had formed once he started writing poems and short stories. He was extremely touchy about who could read it; in fact Hikaru had only been allowed to read a few pages here and there.

Hikaru crossed his arms and stared at the journal for a minute. "You're going to let her read a page?" he asked, seeming confused.

Kaoru shook his head. "She doesn't know how to read Japanese very well yet right? There's a week before school starts and she'll be spending that time at Haruhi's house before moving to our house the day before school starts. In that time, she can try to read my entire journal, and if she can I'll let her read the next one and so on." Hikaru's face started reddening and Kaoru mentally sighed, he expected this would happen.

"How is that fair? You won't even let me near the damn things and she can just go ahead and read them all?" he yelled angrily, his shoulders shaking.

Kaoru hugged his brother tightly trying to calm him down. After they found out they couldn't go study in America with Haruhi, everyone had been upset and started sliding into their old shells. The first visit to America to see Haruhi she had noticed immediately. She made the twins promise to start separating and becoming individuals. Kaoru was to take up creative writing while Hikaru picked up an advance art class.

It wasn't easy at all but it still felt manageable because they both knew they were the others main person in their life. They would always be the Hitachiin twins regardless of how many separate classes they took. However, once Kaoru got to know Valerie he slowly started to realize that he wanted to confess to her and make her his girlfriend. Once he found out that Valerie was going to study with them at Ouran this year he decided it was time to take that step. He didn't need the other students meeting her and falling for her adorable charm the way he had.

However, he hadn't warned Hikaru that he intended on taking this step. They both knew once one of them became involved in a romantic relationship their relationship would be slightly strained. Kaoru always secretly hoped Hikaru would find someone first, but as fate would have it Valerie came into his life and blew him away.

He pondered all summer long how to confess to the girl but he couldn't think of anything satisfactory. Knowing her, it would take more than a normal "I like you, be my girlfriend?" to get her to agree to being with him. Valerie would no doubt end up being extremely difficult to impress due to males in America being much more 'player' like than the guys from Ouran. Kaoru found himself completely out of his comfort zone now as he finally realized what would impress her and undoubtedly get her to want to accept his confession.

The journals he had been writing in ever since he was twelve were easily his most prized possessions. Between feeling alone in the world (besides Hikaru), the maid stealing from them and leaving, and their parents never being home enough; Kaoru needed an emotional outlet. Playing mind games on other people was Hikaru's outlet, but it didn't help Kaoru at all. If anything it made him feel worse, but there was no way he could tell that to his brother. Not if it helped him.

Kaoru knew that Hikaru would be enraged by his decision to let her read his journals. Once in awhile he would allow his twin to read a certain poem or entry, but never had he let anyone read the entirety of the journals that he kept locked in a secret location. Luckily, his twin respected his privacy enough to not try to get into his secret stash. Though Kaoru had an inkling that it was mainly because Hikaru hated reading and figured he knew the contents of the journals already.

However, Hikaru hated the idea that anyone else would get to know Kaoru's deepest thoughts and desires. Kaoru decided to let someone else completely into his life and it scared both twins.

"Please Hikaru… try to understand." The younger twin pleaded.

"Understand what? That some girl you barely even know gets to read the one thing I've been denied by you for the past five years?" he yelled pushing Kaoru away from him. "Fine do whatever you want. I'll be too busy trying to win Haruhi over to even care." He huffed and walked briskly away from his twin towards the airports main building.

Kaoru sighed and leaned against the stairs of the plane. Every muscle in his body urged him to follow his twin, but he knew he needed to resist this now. He wouldn't always be able to help Hikaru calm down and this was something that Hikaru needed to come to grips with on his own.

He glanced down at his expensive watch that had been a present from Kyouya last year after being late to Host Club for the tenth time in a row. The girls would be there shortly. He had to admit to himself that like his brother, he'd be glad once they got home this time. Their mother promised this would be the last American trip they'd have to make for the year. All summer they had been making one to three trips to America each week to drop off her latest designs in her American offices.

Neither twin had complained much about this because it allowed them to stop by Boston on their way home and see Haruhi and Valerie. Kaoru mentally sighed as he thought of Valerie again. Her family had taken Haruhi in for her exchange program. They were all Japanese other than Valerie who was only half Japanese. Her parents adopted her at only two months of age. They raised her to speak Japanese fluently, but she only knew how to read a handful of words.

Kaoru smirked to himself. The first thing he learned about Valerie is she loved challenges. When the Host Club stayed in Boston for a week during winter break Valerie spent all her time getting to know the twins so she could tell them apart. By the end of that week Kaoru realized he liked her a lot more than he should. The twins upgraded Valerie's cell phone so it could receive and send texts worldwide after that week so that the girls could keep in contact with everyone in Japan.

Of course by now Valerie could tell them apart as easily as Haruhi could.

The second thing Kaoru learned about Valerie was that she was a sucker for a good book or poem. She loved reading more than almost anything, only music beating it out. Several times she complained that she was awful at writing and how much of a shame it was. This fact helped Kaoru decide he wanted to show her his journals. Especially since last week he brought her one of his short stories he recently written on a plane trip and it actually brought tears to her eyes. He loved that his writings could cause so much emotion to her, and knew that his journals wouldn't be taken for granted in her hands.

He wasn't sure how she would take this challenge though. It would be difficult since she never tried to read more than basic words in Japanese. Although this would have to change once she started school here, it would be a challenge for her to read the journals before school started up. He willingly translated the story he showed her to English for her, but he wouldn't be doing that with his journals. No one else would be allowed to read the journals while she possessed them either, so she'd have to figure it all out on her own.

A car door snapped Kaoru from his thoughts and he looked up to see the familiar town car parked a few meters from the plane and two pretty girls climbing out. He pushed himself off the stair case and walked towards them.

"Kaoru!" the taller girl exclaimed happily and she ran towards him and hugged him. "Where Hikaru?" the other asked quietly.

He hugged Valerie back tightly before letting her go and hugging Haruhi and answering her. "He went into the airport for something, he should be back soon."

"Oh, I'm surprised Tamaki didn't stow away on your guys' plane this time." She joked lightly.

Kaoru looked at her in shock. "You don't know?"

Panic flitted across Haruhi's face. "Know what? What happened?"

"He's in France until further notice." A fourth voice said and the group looked up to see a dismayed looking Hikaru walking towards them with a container of Starbucks drinks. "Thought we could all use a little pick me up for the flight back home." He said with a non-committal shrug before walking into the plane.

Haruhi looked at Kaoru with an obvious question in her eyes. "Don't worry about what happened. Just go and tell him about some clothes you've seen lately and he'll be distracted enough." Kaoru said trying to keep her from demanding him to explain. He didn't want her to know about him planning to confess to Valerie just yet. Haruhi had a bad habit of saying things without thinking and Kaoru really didn't want his careful planning to get screwed up.

After a moment of contemplation she nodded and silently made her way into the plane to find Hikaru. A quiet cough brought Kaoru's attention back to the girl in front of him. Her dark brown hair with red highlights fell halfway down her back in wild untamable curls. She wore a simple red tank top with a knee length black skirt, quite plain for Kaoru's tastes but she still looked so pretty that he didn't care. "Shall we?" She enquired, her violet-blue eyes piercing his. He could only nod as he led her into the plane. "Whoa" she breathed just loud enough for Kaoru to hear as she stepped into the plane.

He couldn't blame her; it had been Haruhi's first impression as well. Valerie lived in a middle-class family, so she wasn't poor but she had never flown on a private plane before and the Hitachiin's never accepted less than the most luxurious things in life. The first portion of the plane was a lush and relaxing sitting room with extremely soft chairs and plants and flowers carefully placed around the room. Kaoru usually used this compartment for writing or reading. Behind the discreetly covered door at the back led to the common room which Kaoru knew was where Hikaru and Haruhi went to.

"Just go behind the curtain in the middle and through the door there, they should be there. I have to tell the pilot that we're ready for takeoff." She nodded mutely, still taking in her surroundings as she walked slowly towards the hidden door. Kaoru smiled to himself. If she thought this was breathtaking, she'd never get over how the Hitachiin mansion looked.

Shaking himself from his thoughts he turned and went through the curtains behind him that led to the pilot's cabin. "We're all on the plane and ready to go."

The pilot jumped from his seat, blushing brightly before trying to hide a magazine. He didn't hide it quickly enough though and Kaoru laughed. "Next time you want to read a Cosmopolitan I suggest doing it in private." He winked before leaving the cabin and heading towards the common room. The flight crew had shut the door to the plane, meaning the luggage that Haruhi and Valerie had already been loaded onto the plane. Normally it took the pilot about a half an hour to get the plane off the ground after giving the go-ahead and now Kaoru knew why. He was still chuckling to himself when he got into the common room where Hikaru was talking to the two girls.

"What's so funny?"Hikaru asked, his eyes already showing amusement.

"Well, I found out why Yuki takes so long getting the plane going. He seems to have grown a fondness for Cosmopolitan." Kaoru laughed harder remembering the pilots face.

"The drink?" Hikaru asked, obviously confused. But Valerie and Haruhi joined in my laughing obviously knowing about the magazine.

Valerie shook her head and grabbed her backpack that she brought on the plane with her. She opened it and pulled out a magazine, the very same one Yuki tried hiding from Kaoru and threw it at Hikaru. His eyes widened quickly and a light blush glowed on his face as he read the covers articles. This caused everyone to laugh even harder as Kaoru sat on the two seated couch next to Valerie.

Hikaru coughed and tried to laugh a bit. "Poor old chap, doesn't know how to please his woman I guess." He went to hand the magazine back to Valerie and mischief crossed his face. "So Miss Valerie, why do you have such a magazine hmmmn?" he tilted his head to the side.

Valerie stared the older twin down. "It has a lot of informative articles in it. My mom isn't exactly the best person to go to for female advice so this magazine helps quite a bit." She said snatching the magazine playfully from him. Kaoru raised an eyebrow. He had never read the magazine thoroughly but the covers always advertised a lot of sexual articles.

As if reading his mind Hikaru responded. "But that magazine is mostly sexual stuff isn't it? Have you been practicing the tips on anyone?" he gestured with his eyebrows, a coy smile on his face.

A slight blush formed on Valerie's face and before she could respond Haruhi hit Hikaru across the back of the head. "Obviously she hasn't you dolt she doesn't have a boyfriend. Stop being so rude. Besides the magazine has more than sex articles. I've actually seen a few cute dresses in it."

Both twins stared at her opened mouthed. "Cute—"

"dresses?"

"Are you sure you're Haruhi Fujioka?"

"You're not an imposter trying to live a life you could never get on your own?"

She rolled her eyes at the twins who were now pulling at her cheeks lightly as if seeing if a mask would come off. "Of course it's me! America's just very different. Though, I am looking forward to wearing a uniform to school again." She sighed happily.

"Speak for yourself, that's the part I'm dreading most." Valerie groaned. "I look awful in any shade of yellow, plus I've never worn a uniform in my life." The twins mentally agreed that her extremely pale skin wouldn't look good against the uniforms pale yellow.

"We already have a plan for that!" started Kaoru.

"We'll pretend to have forgotten to order you a uniform. That can give us about three days."

"Then it'll accidently be the wrong size!"

"Another three days, giving you at least one week with no uniform." Finished Hikaru.

Valerie shook her head in awe. "You two are evil geniuses I swear."

"But is it really evil if we're doing it for the good of our friend?" Kaoru purred in her ear. Valerie giggled and shook her head.

"I guess not."

He smiled at her then turned to his brother, silently asking permission. When his brother hesitantly nodded he brought his attention back to Valerie. "Mind joining me in the front room for a little bit?" She raised her eyebrow in curiosity but agreed anyways. They walked together into the front room and Haruhi and Hikaru sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Is he finally going to confess?" Haruhi asked.

Hikaru smirked, nothing got passed Haruhi. "Sort of. He's giving her his journals in order; she has to figure out what they all say before he'll give her the next. I'm guessing that the last one will have his confession in it." He shrugged slightly.

Her brows furrowed as she stared at the curtains that covered the door that Kaoru and Valerie disappeared through. "But he doesn't let anyone read his journals."

"I know."

Haruhi glanced at Hikaru. "She'll never take your place in his heart."

He sighed. "I know."

"Then why are you so upset about this?" she asked bluntly.

Hikaru stared blankly at a spot on the ceiling. "It makes me feel alone."

"You still have me." He smiled slightly at her statement. She didn't mean it in the way he wanted her to, but it was still nice to hear anyways.

"Thanks Haruhi."

_**Meanwhile in the front room of the plane…**_

Kaoru pulled out the first journal he ever wrote from his back pocket as Valerie sat on one of the super cushy couches with a content sigh. Hesitantly he sat next to her and held the journal out to her. She stared at it blankly for a few seconds before looking at him. "It's your journal isn't it?"

"The very first one I started." He replied.

She reached out and took it, holding it almost as if it were made of glass. "Why do you have this here?"

Kaoru chuckled lightly. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked staring at her pointedly.

"You want me to read it?" disbelief was thick in her voice. "Kaoru you won't even let anyone else touch your journals. I saw you nearly snap Hikaru's head off when he touched it on accident." She ran her fingers lightly over the cover.

"Well it's sort of a challenge. It's completely in Japanese, so if you can successfully read this entire journal on your own then I'll let you read the next one, and so on." He gave her a small smile.

"But… I don't understand."

Kaoru sighed. "If you can make it through all of them you'll understand. I won't explain it, the writings will."

Valerie snorted delicately. "Isn't that the same thing essentially considering you are the one that writes everything in here?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I guess so, but I figured this way would be more fun for the both of us." He gave her an irresistible smile that made her insides turn to mush.

"Well if you're sure… I promise I'll guard it with my life."

"Good, now let's take a nap, it'll be morning when we land in Japan." He leaned over and kissed her forehead before grabbing a couple of blankets and handing one to her, and taking the other and moving to the other couch in the room.

"Night Kaoru." Valerie said, hugging the journal tightly to her chest.

"Night Valerie." He replied clapping to make the lights turn off, leaving both of them in darkness with only their thoughts both of which revolved around the other and the journal in Valerie's arms.


End file.
